34th BCS Written Question -2014
Write a precis of the following passage:- 15
4.
Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, as in the global monoculture or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural decay. For example, before Hawaii was conquered by Europeans, the culturally diverse Hawaiian culture existed in the world and contributed to the world’s cultural diversity. Now Hawaii has been westernized, the vast majority of its culture has been replaced with Western or American culture.The phrase ‘cultural diversity’ can also refer to different cultures having respect for each others differences. The phrase ‘cultural diversity’ is sometimes misused to mean the variety of human societies or culture in a specific region, or in the world as a whole; but these phenomena are multiculturalism rather than cultural diversity.By analogy with biodiversity, which is thought to be essential to the long term survival of life on earth, it can be argued that cultural diversity may be vital for the long term survival of humanity, and that the conservation of indigenous cultures may be as important ‘to mankind as the conservation of species and ecosystem is to life in, general. The general conference of UNESCO took this position in 2001 asserting in article l of the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity that cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. This position is rejected by some people on several grounds.Firstly, like most evolutionary accounts of human nature, the importance of cultural diversity for survival may be an untestable hypothesis, which can neither be proved nor disarmed. Secondly, it can be argued that it is unethical deliberately to conserve less developed societies because this will deny people within those societies the benefits of technological and medical advances, enjoyed by those of us in the developed world.In the same way, it is unethical to promote poverty in undeveloped nations as cultural diversity. It is also unethical to promote all religious practices simply because they contribute to cultural diversity. Particularly, there are some practices that are recognized by the WHO and UN as unethical such as female genital mutilation, burning the widow on the husbands burial pyre, polygamy, human sacrifice, etc.
[34th BCS-2014 : 2014]
4
